English: Santa Maria Nuova Cathedral, Monreale, Sicily.
Deutsch: Kathedrale Santa Maria Nuova, Monreale, Sizilien.
Photo: 8 September 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: pjt56.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Cathedral of Monreale is one of the greatest extant examples of Norman architecture in the world. It was begun in 1174 by King William II of Sicily, and, in 1182, the Church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, was, by a Bull of Pope Lucius III, elevated to
the Rank of a Metropolitan Cathedral.
See, BELOW,
for stunning photography of
Santa Maria Nuova Cathedral,
Monreale, Sicily,
TAKEN BY A DRONE !!!
Basilica Santa Maria La Nuova di Monreale, in Sicily, is a magnificent 12th-Century Normano-Byzantine edifice, which must number among the most beautiful Churches in the world.
Hit the toggle button on the lower right of the frame to see it larger.
This church was used as a substitute for the Lateran Cathedral in the 1970s hipster film "Brother Son, Sister Moon," staring Alec Guinness as Pope Innocent III (only good performance in the movie). An enormous throne engulfed the altar area, although it was later removed. I sense that if a series of steps could have been created at that point then the sanctuary had not yet been "renovated."
ReplyDeleteThe church is quite gorgeous and recalls those many parts of southern Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean that are Roman Catholic, but with a deep Byzantine background. Indeed, there is the "Italo-Greek" Catholic Church comprised of Christians who never gave up their Greek traditions when, in the late first millennium, Sicily came under the domain of Italian bishops and became firmly (rather than passively) part of the Roman patriarchate; other Italo-Greek Catholics came to Sicily from the Holy Land after the Crusades ended and the Muslims took the area permanently (also why some Byzantine Catholics have devotion to the Virgin of Mt Carmel).
Enough babbling on my part now!
A riveting Comment,
DeleteThe Rad Trad, for which we are all grateful.
Thank You.